Self service display

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a shoe display and method for providing the shoe display. The shoe display has a stand with an upper part and a lower part. The shoe display also has a try-on shoe and a cord connecting the lower part of the stand with the try-on shoe. A bag is removably attached to the upper part and has a left shoe and a right shoe placed within the bag.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to an improved self service display.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Selling shoes traditionally entailed a predominant amount of personal service. Normally, a salesperson would retrieve a request from a customer to try on a pair or several pairs of shoes. The salesperson or another worker would usually then either manually retrieve the requested shoe(s) himself/herself. After the customer finishes sampling the shoe(s), the salesperson or another worker would normally then have to put away any shoe(s) not desired to be purchased back into storage for later purchase by another customer. In the event these shoes are damaged or sufficiently worn by a customer during the try on stage, and not purchased by that customer, the shoes are then typically discarded or sent back to the manufacturer.

As described above, the process of selling shoes can involve a high degree of personal service, which can be expensive to the store since a person or several persons may be involved in a sale or what may amount to be a situation where no sale ultimately occurs despite the efforts of the employee(s). Moreover, the employee(s) may also need to be compensated, along with costs for benefits, whether or not a sale occurs. Further, if an employee is helping one customer, that same employee may be hindered from simultaneously helping another customer. This may lead to a delay in service and possibly a lost sale if the waiting customer walks out of the store.

Retail of shoes over the Internet or via mail orders, such as through catalogs or distributors, seem to circumvent the above expenses by reducing the amount of personal service and overhead for a store. However, returns of shoes purchased over the Internet or via mail orders seem to indicate that improper fit were common reasons for the returns. These returns may be far in excess of returns from shoes traditionally purchased in a store because the customer may have already tried on the shoes to determine the proper fit. Therefore, although online sales and mail orders of shoes may alleviate some of the above expenses associated with selling shoes, it typically introduces another problem of increased returns. Absent some way for a customer to try on a shoe prior to purchasing shoes, online or mail order sales of shoes do not seem to effectively reduce costs.

To overcome the disadvantages of both the traditional shoe store and online or mail order selling, self service displays may have been provided but these so called self-service display seem to necessitate at least one or more salespersons to replace shoes onto the display after the customers try on the shoes or to assist in fitting. Also, a problem of theft often becomes a consideration since a self service shoe display without anyone to monitor sales may invite unscrupulous people to steal the shoes rather than pay for them. Hence, this may be another reason to have at least one or more salespersons on duty. As described above, this personal service is not only time consuming, but possibly increases the cost of shoes.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,292,797 and 3,229,819 to Berk relate to a self service display for selling shoes that seems to include try on shoes as well as shoes packaged in bags for purchase. The try on shoes appear to be fixedly attached to the base of the shoe display and may not enable a customer to walk about while wearing them. The packaged shoes for purchase include a pair of shoes but may not include articles for maintaining or repairing the shoes.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,414,975 to Hummel also seems to show shoes being packaged in bags for purchase by customers but the shoes do not seem to include articles for maintaining or repairing the shoes. Moreover, the above references also do not seem to address the problem of theft by unscrupulous persons.

What is desired, therefore, is a self service display for selling shoes in an improved manner over traditionally provided self service displays. A further desire is a self service display for selling shoes that allows customers to try on and walk in various shoes similar to being in a shoe store. Another desire is a self service display for selling shoes that helps keep the shoes that customers try on in proper order. A still further desire is a shoe display that sells a complete maintenance system for maintaining and/or repairing a shoe. Yet another desire is a shoe display that sells shoes in tamper resistant packaging to reduce costs and hinder theft.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide a self service display that allows customers to try on and walk about in samples, similar to a traditional shoe store.

It is another object of the invention to provide a self service display that facilitates proper placement of the samples after the customers have completed trying on the samples.

A further object is to provide a self service display that sells a complete maintenance kit for maintaining footwear.

Yet another object is a self service display that sells articles in a tamper resistant bag to reduce theft and inhibit items from being strewn about.

These and other objects of the invention are achieved by a shoe display for permitting a customer to sample and purchase shoes having a stand with an upper part and a lower part. The shoe display also has a try-on shoe and a cord connecting the lower part of the stand with the try-on shoe. A bag is removably attached to the upper part and has a left shoe and a right shoe placed within the bag.

The shoe display permits the customer to sample the try-on shoe and, because the try-on shoe is connected to the lower part of the stand via the cord, or preferably a retractable cord, the try-on shoe will still be properly placed proximate to the lower part after the customer removes the try-on shoe. Once the customer has determined the size he/she wants to purchase, the customer selects a bag from the upper part based on a color and a size of the left and right shoes that are within the bag.

The bags are understood to contain various colors and/or sizes of the left and right shoes. In some embodiments, the shoe display includes a box removably attached to the upper part, where the bag would be placed within the box. To improve marketing and make the new shoes in the bag more accessible, the box has a top that is removed in order to expose the bag. In some of these embodiments, the bag is tamper resistant.

In a further embodiment, a plurality of bags are removably attached to the upper part or placed within the box, each bag having a left shoe, a right shoe, a treater, and a shoelace, and wherein the left and right shoes have a common color and a common size.

In another aspect of the invention, a method for providing a shoe display is includes the steps of providing a stand having an upper part and a lower part, placing a try-on shoe proximate to the lower part; and extending a cord from the lower part to the try-on shoe. The method also removably attaches a bag to the upper part and places a left shoe and a right shoe within the bag.

In some aspects, the method removably attaches a box to the upper part and places the bag within the box. In some of these aspects, the method exposes the bag while it is within the box by removing a top of the box.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts the shoe display in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 2 depicts the tamper resistant bag shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 depicts a front view of the shoe display shown in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 4 a and 4 b depict various tops of the boxes containing shoes shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 depicts a method of providing the shoe display shown in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts shoe display 10 in accordance with the invention. Shoe display 10 includes stand 20, try-on shoe 30 proximate to lower part 22 of stand 20, and bag 40 of new shoes proximate to upper part 24 of stand 20. Shoe display 10 also includes cord 50 connecting try-on shoe 30 with lower part 22, wherein a potential customer may sample try-on shoe 30 and wherein cord 50 facilitates proper placement of try-on shoe 30 after the customer is finished with try-on shoe 30 since cord 50 keeps try-on shoe 30 in a particular order relative to other try-on shoes 30, each of which are connected at a unique part of lower part 22. As shown, each try-on shoe 30 includes a numeral conspicuously located on it for indicating the size. Moreover, cord 50 deters theft of try-on shoe 30.

Bag 40 contains at least a left shoe and a right shoe, both of which are new. Bag 40 is selected by the customer after the customer decides which type of shoe to purchase, whether or not the customer samples try-on shoe 30. Unlike try-on shoe 30, which is permanently attached to or at least difficult to disassembly from lower part 22 via cord 50, bag 40 is removably attached to upper part 24 of stand 20. Bag 40 may have an aperture for receiving a hook that may be attached to upper part 24.

Bag 40 is preferably a tamper resistant or a tamper proof containment for the new left and right shoes. In this fashion, new shoes will be difficult to be removed from bag 40 except for a customer in a conspicuous manner, which usually will be a purchaser of 40, thereby limiting damage to the contents of un-purchased bags 40 on display 10. In some embodiments, bag 40 is a hard plastic vacuum packed clear plastic containment so customers may see the condition of the shoes and other articles within bag 40. This is particularly helpful since the material of the shoe may change or vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. In further embodiments, bag 40 also contains a shoe polish, shoelace, coupon for future purchases, treater for treating an upper such as silicone, oil, material or leather softener, and the like. See FIG. 2.

As shown, there is a plurality of bags 40 removably attached to upper part 24, where the plurality of bags 40 contains various colors and/or sizes of shoes, each ready for selection once the customer determines the proper size and/or color. There may be repeat sizes or repeat colors of shoes among the plurality of bags 40. In this manner, the customer has a multitude of choices in which to select the proper color and size.

Also as shown, there is a plurality of try-on shoes 30, where each try-on shoe 30 is of a different size. Color is not important among the plurality of try-on shoes 30. If a customer samples try-on shoe 30, it is primarily for proper fit in selecting the proper size for the customer. Once size has been determined, the customer need only visually inspect the plurality of shoes within the plurality of bags 40 in order to select proper color.

Cord 50 has sufficient length so that the customer may walk about while wearing try-on shoe 30. Preferably but not required for the invention to function properly, cord 50 is retractable so that, upon the customer removing try-on shoe 30, try-on shoe 30 would automatically, due to its elasticity or spring bias, be placed in proper position relative to stand 20. Cord 50 may retract to any length or may in fact retract until try-on shoe 30 contacts stand 20. In embodiments where cord 50 is not retractable, try-on shoe 30 is at a fixed length from stand 20.

In a further embodiment, some bags 40 are placed within box 60, where box 60 is directly and removably attached to upper part 24. This differs from the above description where bag 40 is directly and removably attached to upper part 24.

As shown in FIG.3, box 60 contains several bags 40. Box 60 further includes top 62 removably from bottom 64. Top 62 may be removed from some boxes 60 so that bags 40 within box 60 are visible and top 62 may be attached to other boxes 60. In this fashion, a certain number of bags 40 are exposed to the surroundings and a certain number of bags 40 are protected from debris in the surroundings which may accumulate on bags 40, which may negatively affect the appearance of the contents within the bag and, therefore, negatively affect sales. This may be particularly beneficial if shoe display 10 is located in dusty areas, such as warehouses, outdoors, or any place where the elements may discolor bag 40 or where debris may collect on bag 40.

FIG. 4 a depicts box 60 as shown in FIG. 1, where top 62 is removed and where top 62 covers a triangular section of box 60. In this fashion, the removal of top 62 leaves sufficient structural integrity to box 60 such that other boxes may be stacked upon box 60 with a lessened likelihood of box 60 collapsing or buckling. Moreover, bag 40 inside box 60, where box 60 is beneath a plurality of boxes, may still be accessible with top 62 removed since the plurality of boxes are not placed against bag 40, as would be the case with the embodiment of box 60 in FIG. 4 b.

FIG. 4 b depicts another embodiment of top 62 where the removal of top 62 exposes more of bags 40 within box 60. This may be desired for optimal display and/or exposure of bags 40, particularly when multiple colors and/or sizes are to be shown or in a high sales area.

FIG. 5 depicts method 100 for providing a shoe display, including the steps of providing 104 a stand, extending 108 a lower part from the stand, and extending 120 an upper part from the stand.

Method 100 also extends 110 a cord from the lower part of the stand, and places 112 a try-on shoe at the end of the cord, where the cord connects the lower part with the try-on shoe. In this manner, the try-on shoe is placed proximate, and kept proximately, to the lower part by virtue of the cord.

Method 100 also includes the steps of providing 122 a tamper resistant bag, placing 126 a left shoe and a right shoe within the bag, and removably attaching 130 the bag with the upper part.

Alternatively, instead of attaching 130 the bag with the upper part, method 100 may place 132 the bag within a box and removably attach 136 the box with the upper part. In this aspect, method 100 may also expose 140 the bag by removing a top of the box. 

1. A shoe display for permitting a customer to sample and purchase shoes, comprising: a stand having an upper part and a lower part; a try-on shoe; a cord having a stand end connected to said lower part and a shoe end connected to said try-on shoe; a bag removably attached to said upper part; and said bag having a left shoe and a right shoe; wherein the customer may sample said try-on shoe; wherein said cord facilitates placement of said try-on shoe proximate to said lower part after the customer removes said try-on shoe; and wherein the customer selects said bag based on a color and a size of said left and right shoes.
 2. The shoe display in accordance with claim 1, wherein said bag contains various colors of said left shoe and said right shoe.
 3. The shoe display in accordance with claim 1, wherein said bag contains various sizes of said left shoe and said right shoe.
 4. The shoe display in accordance with claim 1, further comprising a box removably attached to said upper part.
 5. The shoe display in accordance with claim 4, wherein said bag is placed within said box.
 6. The shoe display in accordance with claim 5, wherein said box has a top and a bottom, said top being removably attached to said bottom wherein said top is removed so that said bag is visible.
 7. The shoe display in accordance with claim 1, further comprising a plurality of bags, each having a left shoe, a right shoe, a treater, and a shoelace, and wherein said left and right shoes have a common color and a common size.
 8. The shoe display in accordance with claim 7, wherein said left and right shoes of said plurality of bags have a plurality of different colors.
 9. The shoe display in accordance with claim 7, wherein said left and right shoes of said plurality of bags have a plurality of different sizes.
 10. The shoe display in accordance with claim 1, wherein said cord has a length sufficient for permitting the user to walk about.
 11. The shoe display in accordance with claim 1, wherein said cord is retractable.
 12. The shoe display in accordance with claim 1, wherein said bag is tamper resistant.
 13. A shoe display, comprising: a stand having an upper part and a lower part; a try-on shoe; a cord having a stand end connected to said lower part and a shoe end connected to said try-on shoe; a bag removably attached to said upper part; and said bag having a left shoe and a right shoe.
 14. A method for providing a shoe display, comprising the steps of: providing a stand with an upper part and a lower part; placing a try-on shoe proximate to the lower part; extending a cord from the lower part to the try-on shoe; removably attaching a bag to the upper part; and placing a left shoe and a right shoe within the bag.
 15. The method in accordance with claim 14, further comprising the step of removably attaching a box to the upper part.
 16. The method in accordance with claim 15, further comprising the step of placing a bag within the box.
 17. The method in accordance with claim 16, further comprising the step of exposing the bag while it is within the box by removing a top of the box. 